Teachers are smart people, so why does marking reduce them to stressed and soulless messes? Because in their hearts they know that students do not learn from it, and that drives them nuts. Researchers like Lorna Earl and Dylan Wiliam have looked closely at marking systems and have proven what teachers already know deep down: marking student work does not improve student learning. However, after her second year of teaching senior English, the author realized that marking student work does help her learn about what makes good writing and bad writing. So she stopped giving marks and started giving feedback. Feedback eliminates the mystery shrouding good writing the way a mark never could. With several key tools, the author has moved from a ranking system to a learning system, a system where students have ownership over their progress and where she does not "give them a mark". (Contains 2 notes.)